Question

Difficulty: MediumData Governance, Classification, and Privacy Controls

A digital publishing platform is updating its enterprise data governance model to ensure proper management of sensitive subscriber datasets. Executive leadership assigns the Vice President of HR to define retention schedules, determine data classification tiers for personnel records, and approve access authorizations. A senior database administrator is then instructed to implement storage encryption, perform daily backups, and enforce access control lists based on those approved directives. Which of the following data governance roles describes the operational responsibilities of the senior database administrator?

  1. Data custodianAnswer
  2. B
    Data owner
  3. C
    Data processor
  4. D
    Data protection officer

Answer

Data custodian
The correct answer is the data custodian. In data governance frameworks, a data custodian (often a system engineer, database administrator, or IT administrator) is responsible for the technical safeguards, backup procedures, system hardening, and access enforcement required to protect data according to rules established by the data owner.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the key responsibilities described for the senior database administrator in the scenario.
The senior database administrator is managing technical security controls, access control lists, storage encryption, and backup routines.
Technical operational duties differentiate database maintenance from policy definition.
2
Differentiate between governance accountability and technical maintenance roles.
The Vice President of HR acts as the business data owner who determines classification and approves access, whereas the database administrator executes those technical controls.
CompTIA Security+ distinguishes between the data owner (business accountability) and data custodian (operational execution).
3
Match the administrator's technical role to standard data governance terminology.
The role responsible for maintaining technical safeguards and operational compliance is the data custodian.
Data custodians preserve data integrity, security, and availability per the owner's policy specifications.

Key Concept

Distinction between Data Owner and Data Custodian roles
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